Ministers should be held accountable if their children do any wrong: Hazare on Pune land 'scam'

Pune, Nov 7 (PTI) Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Friday said if children of ministers indulge in wrongdoing, it is the latter who should be blamed, comments coming in the backdrop of a controversial land deal involving a firm co-owned by son of Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

The veteran social activist, who has led several significant agitations against corruption in the past, demanded strict action by the government if irregularities were detected in the Rs 300-crore deal involving state-owned land in Pune city which is already under probe.

"It is really unfortunate. If children of ministers are involved in wrongdoing, it is the ministers who should be blamed. What is more important is values, values that come from families. All such things happen because of lack of values," he said.

Hazare was talking to reporters in his native village Ralegan Siddhi in adjoining Ahilyanagar district.

"The government should bring in policy decisions and take strong steps to curb such things. Strong action should be taken against such people (those found guilty of committing irregularities)," Hazare asserted.

Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar said in Mumbai his son Parth and his business partner were not aware that the land in Pune, which their company purchased, belonged to the government, and the controversial transaction has now been cancelled.

A committee appointed by the government to probe the land deal will submit its report within a month, he told reporters soon after meeting Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

On Thursday, when the land deal first hit headlines, Ajit Pawar, who holds the finance and planning portfolio, clarified he had absolutely nothing to do with the transaction. PTI SPK RSY